Austin Cop Cleared In Woman's Shooting Death

AUSTIN, TX — A pair of Austin police officers have been cleared in the shooting death of a woman they say approached them while holding a knife during a disturbance call last year, the district attorney said on Monday.

The Travis County District Attorney’s Office has concluded its review of the Austin Police Department’s investigation of the facts and circumstances of the June 7, 2018, officer-involved shooting death of Leslie Salazar by Austin Police Department officer Thomas Brown, DA Margaret Moore said in a press advisory.

"The Travis County District Attorney’s Office has determined that the credible facts establish that the officer’s use of force was justified under applicable Texas law governing when an officer may use deadly force," the DA's office said in a statement. "In accordance with the office’s policies, District Attorney Margaret Moore will not present this case to a grand jury and has issued a declination letter summarizing the facts of the investigation and the legal analysis forming the basis for her decision."

The incident occurred in the early morning hours of June 7, 2018, after two residents of a house on South Glenn Street called 911 to complain that they had been assaulted by a person staying with them. The complainants claimed to have been punched, bitten, and threatened with a knife during the altercation. Occupants of the dwelling had exited the home in fear, the DA's office wrote, and the first responding Austin police officers, Thomas Brown and Elias Robles, met them nearby.

Complainants identified the suspect as Leslie Salazar, adding that she had been drinking alcoholic beverages with them. The victims alerted the officers that Salazar was still inside the house with another friend, according to the DA's office.

Robles and Brown found a large knife as they approached the home, the DA's office said. The person who was still inside the house with Salazar fled as they were about to enter the house, leaving the suspect alone in the dwelling. As Robles and Brown entered, they negotiated down a hallway leading to the main room. The surroundings were cluttered and dark, the DA noted, prompting the officers to proceed slowly.

With Brown in the lead, the officers approached a wall separating the main living room from the kitchen area before heading to the kitchen when Salazar emerged with a knife in her right hand, the DA said. "Video footage captured by Officer Brown’s bodycam corroborated those statements," Moore noted in her account.

Brown commanded Salazar to drop the knife as he took a step back, only to have the woman continue her advance toward him with the knife raised, the DA said. As a result, the officer fired three shots, all striking Salazar as she fell to the floor. The woman finally released the knife after being wounded, and was pronounced dead at 3 a.m.

After weighing the facts in the case, the DA's office cleared the officer in the shooting death after deeming it justifiable. Moore made documents, audio and interviews related to the case to media outlets as corroboration of her findings.